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How to become Chief Marketing Officer

Do you want to know how to go to the top of the marketing world? Imagine going to work every day in a fast-paced, prominent profession that takes advantage of everything you’ve ever learned about marketing (and pays you accordingly!)

It takes a lot of planning and attention to your profession to become a Chief Marketing Officer. However, master marketers with the necessary experience and business knowledge can easily land this dynamic, high-powered position. We’ll show you how to do it.

We’ll look at what a CMO performs and why professional expertise is so important. You’ll also get clear guidance on the type of education to pursue and information on the various MBA programs available to you. You’ll learn about typical traps to avoid, as well as get inspiration and advice from CMOs from some of the world’s most prestigious organizations.

You’ll know exactly where you stand and what steps to take as you make your way to the boardroom at the end.

You bring the enthusiasm for marketing; in this handy guide, we’ll answer all of your questions about becoming a CMO.

How to Become a Chief Marketing Officer

On the path to becoming a CMO, your professional marketing experience will set you apart and help you land the job. As a result, the majority of CMOs identify as seasoned or late-career professionals.

Here’s what we recommend you do as you plan your next steps toward becoming a CMO:

Obtain a marketing degree to help you land a career. You have some flexibility here, but if you’re still debating on a major, go with anything linked to business or marketing. Otherwise, start looking for a marketing job as soon as possible. Expect to stay here for one to three years after you’ve finished your degree.

Get some work experience. It is not required to stay at the same company for the following five to nine years, but it is an option. To obtain a deeper understanding of the field and exhibit your expanding experience, take successively higher-level marketing positions to build your resume.

Obtain a master’s degree. We advocate getting an MBA with a marketing concentration since it will help you be more effective in your job while also providing you with the business abilities you’ll need at the executive level. After you’ve finished your undergrad, you can pursue it at any time. Keep in mind that most CMOs have ten to twenty years of experience prior to applying for the position.

Expand your professional contacts. Your potential to become a CMO, like other C-level roles, will be determined by who you know. This could take a year or more, but doing so while enrolled in an MBA program and connected to a strong professional network can help speed up the process.

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Look for CMO positions that are a good fit for your skills and interests. It’s fine if you don’t have an industry in which you’re interested and settled, but it’s also fine if you don’t. Keep an eye out for jobs that you’re interested in and that match your qualifications. This process can take a year or more, but if you have a strong network, it can happen rapidly.

Requirements for the Chief Marketing Officer

The CMO is responsible for a wide range of tasks that must be completed, including:

Education

A bachelor’s degree in marketing is required, but most businesses prefer or even demand an MBA, as well as 10 years or more of marketing and advertising expertise, as well as several years of management experience.

Individuals with degrees in creative areas such as journalism, communications, advertising, or public relations can also work in these fields. Additionally, a worker in this role may be required to have a working knowledge of economics, accounting, and data analysis.

Training

To become a CMO, you typically need at least 10 years of marketing or business development expertise, preferably in positions of increasing responsibility, as well as around five years of leadership experience. Expertise in specific areas, such as focused marketing, might help you stand out as a more desirable candidate. To expand their knowledge, many marketing professionals enroll in online marketing courses.

Certifications

Professionals can use certifications to demonstrate their qualifications to current and potential employers. Certifications can help aspiring CMOs obtain a better understanding of their responsibilities, test their professional skills, and develop their careers. The following are two of the most prevalent certifications in this field:

Professional in Marketing Management Certification

The CMMP is a globally recognized measure of marketing excellence created by the International Institute of Marketing Professionals. There are four levels of certification in this program: associate, manager, executive, and chartered CMMP. Professional ethics, market analysis, planning, and strategy are just a few of the topics discussed.

Certified Professional Marketer

This certification, sponsored by the nationally recognized American Marketing Association, is available in four specializations and includes topics such as marketing strategy, ethics, insights, buyers and markets, and pricing.

Skills

To be successful in this capacity, a chief marketing officer must have a diverse set of abilities. Among these abilities are:

Leadership

To improve the end-to-end customer experience, the CMO must be able to unite colleagues, managers, and teams. Interdepartmental efforts to ensure client loyalty and improve sales are closely tied to the ability to comprehend and balance the needs of the customer and the needs of the company.

Communication

Excellent communication skills help you to communicate with potential customers through marketing and advertising initiatives, as well as other forms of communication such as social media. To take appropriate action and guide professional and courteous communication with others, clear speech and active listening are required. Empathy and emotional intelligence are required to comprehend and respond to the demands of the customer, team, and enterprise.

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Time management.

This is a valuable skill in any field, but it is especially critical in marketing. Marketers must prioritize meeting deadlines while working on many projects at the same time, tracking campaign participation, coping with setbacks and distractions, utilizing technology, and doing all of this effectively.

Technical abilities

These abilities are required for a marketer to use common technology marketing tools. SEO, SEM, email, CRM, and social media are just a few of the technologies that marketers employ on a regular basis. These technologies allow marketers to track the efficacy of campaigns and identify areas where they can be modified to increase their influence on potential customers.

What degree is required to work as a CMO?

It’s critical for a marketer pursuing a career as a CMO to evaluate educational qualifications as well as workplace expectations. The most straightforward approach to prepare for an executive-level marketing career is to combine a marketing or marketing-related bachelor’s degree with a marketing-focused MBA.

Employers often look for at least a bachelor’s degree in a related discipline such as marketing, public relations, advertising, or corporate communication and administration when hiring for the chief marketing officer position. However, aspiring CMOs should be aware that some companies prefer or even demand an MBA for this position, according to Indeed.

In as little as two years, students can achieve the right blend of advanced business and marketing knowledge with programs like Northeastern University’s Online MBA with a Marketing Concentration at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business.

The MBA core curriculum includes a diverse set of courses meant to push business students to think outside the box and prepare them for the complex problems of today’s business world. Finance and worldwide markets are among the topics covered in these courses, as are analytics, supply chain management, and corporate ethics.

Electives in the Marketing Concentration curriculum give a deep dive into important components of marketing that can immediately translate to the responsibilities of a CMO, in addition to this full MBA foundation.

Salary and Compensation Structure for CMOs

The chief marketing officer often earns a six-figure pay, similar to other C-suite positions. As of February 2021, chief marketing officers earned an average base income of $174,696 according to PayScale’s research of over 1,500 CMO pay profiles. The lowest earnings took home roughly $91,000 per year, while the highest earners took home around $272,000 per year.

The wages of a CMO may be affected by many financial packages. Commission arrangements, bonuses, and profit-sharing plans, for example, might account for a minor or considerable amount of a CMO’s total pay, according to PayScale.

Actual earnings are also influenced by a number of factors such as firm size, industry, geographic location, and years of experience.

According to data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, executives in similar high-level roles earn the most in the professional, scientific, and technical services industries, as well as manufacturing. According to PayScale, the annual compensation of new CMOs with one to four years of experience and seasoned CMOs with 20 or more years on the job varies by $100,000. Furthermore, CMOs in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston might make between 9% and 37% more than the national average, owing to greater living costs.

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How Long Does It Take to Become a Chief Marketing Officer?

Reaching the C-suite for many prospective marketing executives is a years-long climb up the corporate ladder. Most employers will be looking for a combination of advanced qualifications and an established track record, which can only be gained through years of experience. According to Indeed, this requires at least 10 years of marketing or business development expertise, as well as five years of leadership experience.

However, after ten years in the field, a marketer is not guaranteed a position as a CMO. After several years in another field, someone transitioning to marketing may need to spend more time honing their skills. In order to develop at their current organization, another individual may need to hold a senior management role until the CMO post becomes available.

The long road to the C-suite, on the other hand, is an important part of an ambitious CMO’s career. Other titles a marketer may hold before joining the C-suite range from the most junior to the most senior:

Assistant in marketing

Specialist in marketing

Marketing manager

Director of marketing

Vice president, Marketing

It’s also possible to take a less traditional route, such as starting in sales and moving into marketing, or rising from a social media position in a marketing department to more senior supervisory roles. From entry-level employment to executive ones, each new role is an opportunity to learn, grow, and hone the abilities required for executive success.

CMO Career Prospects

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of senior executives, such as chief marketing officers, is expected to expand significantly in the future years. Job growth will differ per industry and will generally represent the industry’s growth or decrease. For example, because healthcare is a rapidly growing industry, top executives in healthcare marketing organizations should have more chances. Candidates with great marketing experience and leadership characteristics may have an advantage in the competition for top roles.

Do you want to be a Chief Marketing Officer someday?

The job of chief marketing officer is fast-paced and demanding, but it can also be enjoyable. You’ll need strong business skills, as well as excellent communication and interpersonal skills, to be successful. Flexibility, drive, and the ability to think on your feet are all valuable qualities. If you have these qualities and want to take your marketing career to the next level, a chief marketing officer position could be ideal for you. An MBA with a marketing emphasis not only gives you the skills and information that top employers are looking for, but it can also increase your confidence as you compete for lucrative chief marketing officer positions.